


In a ruby garden with you

by Vault_Emblem



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Getting Together, Post-Black Eagles Route (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:42:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26250610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vault_Emblem/pseuds/Vault_Emblem
Summary: Jeritza and Constance take a stroll in the new gardens of house Nuvelle.
Relationships: Jeritza von Hrym/Constance von Nuvelle
Comments: 6
Kudos: 23





	In a ruby garden with you

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to come out on August for my friend's birthday, but stuff happened and I was able to finish it just now. Better late than never I guess?

The first thing that comes to Jeritza’s mind as Constance walks him through the new house Nuvelle’s garden is that yes, she truly did it. She had said that she was going to restore her house, and what once were just hopeful words are now reality; it may not be the same as it once were, but things change, so of course this wasn’t going to stay the same as well. Actually - and doesn’t Jeritza know something about this - things might’ve gone much worse.

He can’t keep his eyes on a single spot, constantly moving his gaze to the path they’re walking on to the single strands of grass to the enormous bushes still void of roses. Well, not exactly: the roses are there, but they haven’t bloomed yet. He can hear Constance speaking but the sound of her voice is the only thing he registers; she’s probably speaking about the technical details behind the restoration, which frankly he doesn’t really care about.

No, what has grabbed his attention are the bushes. She said she wanted to fill it with roses, like it used to be, and Jeritza wonders how long it will take until that promise becomes an actual reality.

“… Jeritza?” _Uhm_.

“Yes?” Maybe if he pretends hard enough she won’t notice he wasn’t listening to her. Unfortunately, however, Constance knows him, and she isn’t fooled.

“You weren’t paying attention, weren’t you?” she accuses him, stomping her foot on the ground in that same endearing way she always did. Jeritza doesn’t know why he’s thinking _that_ now.

“The roses,” is what he says, not even bothering replying to Constance, his eyes that wander again through the garden, “You said that your new garden was going to be full of roses, but they haven’t bloomed yet.”

At those words, Constance chuckles. “You have to give them time,” she says, though Jeritza is able to pick up a shade of self-consciousness in her voice, thus why he’s quick to reassure her.

“I was just curious to know, I don’t mind waiting.”

Constance looks at him in a way that Jeritza doesn’t understand, like she’s looking into his very soul - or what little is left of it, if any - but then she smiles again and Jeritza doesn’t bother with those thoughts anymore.

“You’ve been clever with the… gazebo placement,” he says then, looking up at where the sun would be if only it wasn’t covered. She clearly has taken inspiration from the gazebo in Garreg Mach, though Jeritza has never seen such an arrangement, with the cover being placed over the walkways in a way that they completely block the sun.

“Of course!” she exclaims, “I should be able to enjoy a leisured stroll through my garden without… problems, shouldn’t I?”

Jeritza doesn’t reply, but there’s a smile on his face, an event that is becoming less rare the more time he spends with Constance. His reactions to her presence have been different over time: from cherished childhood friend, she had become later a reminder of a past that Jeritza desperately wanted to forget, and now… He doesn’t know.

They’ve been comrades in arms, part of the same army, and friends, Jeritza supposes, though he still has no idea about how he should feel about this: he’s spent such a long time cutting down every bridge he had, only for said bridges to come back, this time to stay. First his sister Mercedes, then Constance herself, both of them with the intention of being there for him, to restore what was once lost. At first he tried to resist them, to keep himself isolated; he’s dangerous and he didn’t want to risk hurting them. Despite his attempts to shove them way, they kept coming back and… and maybe Jeritza was yearning for his past, for that closeness that he had sworn out.

He can’t say that things are exactly as they once were because that wouldn’t be true, but it’s not bad, and Jeritza still doesn’t know whether he hates it or he’s grateful for it.

“Jeritza! Look!”

Constance’s voice drags him back to the present, and Jeritza follows with his gaze the thing that she is excitedly pointing at with her finger, trying to see what got her so suddenly happy like that… Ah.

It seems that he was wrong when he thought that none of the roses has bloomed yet. Here it is, standing tall in one of the bushes, a solitary red rose.

A wave of memories flashes before Jeritza’s eyes. They were so young, so naïve at the time, and yet Jeritza can’t help but to feel a smile creep on his face when he remembers all the times he used to pick up flowers to give to Constance; of course, he fights that smile back immediately, even though Constance is so enthralled by the rose that doesn’t notice anything. Good.

Before Jeritza can get closer to it, Constance stops him.

“Allow me.”

Constance willingly walking into the sun isn’t something that happens often, but this is too important for her to be stopped by such frivolous things.

It’s with shaking hands that she takes the lonely rose in her hand, but she commands herself to remain calm, that what she’s doing it too important for her to lose her composure. Is she or is she not the head of house Nuvelle?

Her head hurts as she walks back to Jeritza but she pays it no mind, eyes focused on the other as new and old memories rush to her mind. The boy who used to bring her flowers is much different from the man she knows now, but under that hardened exterior, she can still see hints of the old Emile, no matter how hard Jeritza tries to suppress it. Maybe the sun is having an effect on her.

Still, it’s not clinging to the past what she wants, but…

“ _To build a new future_.”

“What?”

Constance seemed in deep though as she walked back towards Jeritza, and now she blurts words without any context. What about building a new future?

More importantly: why is he feeling such trepidation within himself? It’s like a part of him knows what is about to happen; too bad that said part has also decided not to inform the rest of Jeritza’s mind.

She raises her gaze to meet his. She looks determined, but for what, Jeritza has no idea.

“I’ve been shackled by the past for so long, remembering an age of greatness that wasn’t there anymore, but now…” she offers the rose to Jeritza, who stares at her with wide eyes, “Now I know that I simply cannot conduct myself like that anymore: I need to think about the present and… the future.”

Seeing that Jeritza still doesn’t move - and she tries not to ask herself if it’s for the surprise or the lack of engagement - she continues, this time stepping closer. It’s a risky move, but if Jeritza doesn’t want her in his personal space he’ll surely let her know, so until then she stays there.

“Will you walk this path with me?”

It’s admirable, that’s all Jeritza can think. He too feels imprisoned by his past, but he’s not Constance: he doesn’t have the fortitude to even consider something as ephemeral as the future.

Fighting, now _that_ gets his blood boiling. It has become his reason to live. He doesn’t need a future.

Then how can he explain the compulsion to say yes? How can he explain the fact that his hands are already moving to slowly grab the rose that Constance is offering him?

He isn’t one for settling down. His is supposed to be a lonely path, but hasn’t he already contradicted himself when he chose to keep seeing Mercedes? Or when he decided to help Constance rebuild her household? He had many occasions to leave, and yet he hasn’t taken any of them.

“Are you sure of what you’re saying?” he asks, voice soft, taking the rose with an uncharacteristic delicate touch. It would take him nothing to crush the flower in his hand, but he feels no compulsion to do so. “I am not who I once was.”

“I know,” Constance replies, firm, “I’m not asking that boy, in fact. I am asking you, Jeritza von Hrym.”

Jeritza doesn’t know what to say.

“Constance, I…”

She’s getting even closer now, wrapping her arms around him. It’s quite awkward at first because Jeritza stays as still as he can, body tense, but he soon melts in the embrace.

He’s faced countless battles, and this is what actually gets to hurt him, something so soft, stronger than any wound he’s received.

“Thank you,” he manages to say, eventually, barely loud enough for Constance to hear it.

“Does it mean that…”

“Yes. I would like that.” There’s a pause, then Jeritza speaks again: “I don’t know what I can offer you, but if you want me to be with you, then I’ll gladly walk this path alongside you.”

If he wasn’t sure of his answer before, he sure is now that Constance looks up at him. Her eyes are so bright, oozing happiness. She looks like she’d hang the moon and the starts for him… and he finds himself thinking that, if she asked, he’d do the same.

The kiss that follows is expected, and yet it isn’t like anything Jeritza has ever felt.

Again, why is it that such small things can shake his core more than anything else? It makes him feel in a way he hasn’t felt since he was a child. It makes him feel better.

Constance’s lips are so soft and perfect that he feels like he’s ruining her just by allowing her to touch him like this. If he were a better person, he would’ve pulled away and left her, but he isn’t so he basks in this new contact, enjoying every second of it.

The future has never been something he had put much thought into, but now he can admit that the idea of sharing whatever will happen next with Constance isn’t something that he minds.

He’s actually looking forward to it.


End file.
